TAB Construction faces federal lawsuit

The U.S. government has filed suit against Canton-based TAB Construction Co. for allegedly falsifying information to gain government contracts.

Jessica Holbrook CantonRep.com business writer @JHolbrookREP

The U.S. government has filed a lawsuit against Canton-based TAB Construction Co. and the company's owner, William "Buster" Richardson, accusing them of falsifying information to gain government contracts.

In a complaint filed last week in U.S. District Court, the government alleges that TAB lied about its location in order to gain HUBZone certification.

Using that certification, TAB gained several contracts through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and was paid nearly $13 million by the government.

Richardson declined comment to comment when reached Monday.

HUBZONES

HUBZone, or Historically Underutilized Business Zone, is a program run by the U.S. Small Business Administration that gives small businesses in urban and rural communities greater access to federal contracts.

Under the program, businesses that have their primary office in a designated HUBZone, and meet other requirements, can receive certification from the SBA. Businesses can use that certification when bidding on government contracts. In some cases, government agencies will restrict competition for a contract to HUBZone certified companies, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The suit alleges that TAB originally applied to the HUBZone program in 2000, claiming its primary office was located at 1010 Walnut Ave. NE in Canton, which is inside a HUBZone. But the complaint said that none of TAB's employees actually worked at the Walnut Avenue location; the company instead ran operations from an office at 4534 Vliet St. SW in Perry Twp., which is outside of the HUBZone.

Richardson listed the Vliet location as an equipment shop on the application, according to court documents.

Richardson consistently used the Vliet Street address in TAB's business affairs and stated under oath in unrelated private litigation that the company was located there, according to court documents.

RE-CERTIFICATION

The suit alleges that in 2006, Richardson re-certified for HUBZone status using the Walnut Street address and claimed that eight employees worked at the location. But he continued to assert elsewhere that the company was located on Vliet Street.

In 2009, the SBA did a site search of the TAB's Walnut Street office and "found no evidence that (the) firm was operating its business (there)," according to court documents.

SBA sent a letter to TAB notifying the company that it would lose its HUBZone certification. Richardson replied that TAB had moved operations to another HUBZone site — 530 Walnut Ave. NE — and apologized for not informing SBA sooner, according to court documents.

The suit alleges that the majority of TAB's employees were not working at 530 Walnut Ave. NE in 2009, but continued to work at the Vliet Street office until late 2010 or early 2011. SBA withdrew TAB's HUBZone certification in 2010.

FALSE CLAIMS ACT

The government filed its suit against TAB in two consolidated lawsuits filed under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. The Act allows a private citizen to sue on behalf of the government and receive a portion of any funds recovered, according to the news release.

The government is allowed to intervene in the lawsuit, and has done so in this case, according to the release.

Two employees of Pavkov Contracting, a HUBZone-certified firm in Sumter, S.C., sued TAB in March 2011. Two former TAB employees also filed a lawsuit in July 2011.